Signs and Wonders in the Land of Ham

1 AZIONALE NAPOLI Q* irisy r v, 1 biblioteca provinciale Num.° d ordine Digitized by Google Digitized by Google SIGNS AND WONDERS Digitized by GoogI Digitized by Google Digitized by Google OBELISK AT ON, OR HELIOPOLIS. Pnntf 18, 43, k lfil SIGNS AND WONDERS IN THE LAND OF HAM A DESCRIPTION OF THE TEN PLAGUES OF EGYPT WITH ANCIENT AND MODERN PARALLELS AND ILLUSTRATIONS DI v V " , r ) .Na p BY THOMAS S. MILLINGTON VICAR OP WOODHOUSE EAVES LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 1873 Digitized by Google Printed by R. & R. Clark, Edinburgh. Digitized by Google PREFACE. It has been said that “ the use of language is to conceal the thoughts.” The Egyptians re- presented their god of speech holding a seal- ring to his lips as if in approval of this doctrine. It may with equal truth be affirmed that the history is and use of often to conceal facts ; such appears to have been the object of those ancient chroniclers who wrote with a pen of iron upon the monuments of Egypt the sup- posed annals of their country. Numberless are the inscriptions, paintings, sculptures, and papyri, which have been discovered and inter- preted by modern enterprise and scholarship; yet in none of these is any direct allusion, far less any descriptive account, to be found of the most wonderful series of events that ever came to pass in Egypt,—namely, the Ten Plagues which preceded the Exodus of Israel. The priests of Egypt were the guardians, and, to a certain extent, the manufacturers, of its history. Herodotus derived his information IV PREFACE. from the priests (Clio. c. 55, 100, 107, 113, ii8> etc). Diodorus Siculus says — “The priests keep registers in their temples of all their kings for many generations past, to what greatness and majesty every one of them arrived, what were their particular tempers and inclinations, and their actions in their several times” (Hist. 1 . 1. c. 44). The same writer, speaking of the earliest traditions of Egypt, affirms — “ The priests, who were secretly instructed in the perfect knowledge of these matters, would not suffer them to be spread abroad for fear of the punishments to which those who revealed the secrets of the gods were liable” (1. 1. c. 27). The Egyptians professed, indeed, to have a great regard for truth ; and any flagrant de- parture from it was according to their code a criminal offence ; but those who made and ad- ministered the laws were not necessarily bound them and expediency the first con- by ; was sideration, especially in the interests of religion. Falsehood is commended in the Koran, if prac- tised with a good intention or against an enemy and it is probable that in Ancient, as in ; Modern Egypt, veracity was more highly esteemed in theory than in practice. It was evidently the business of the priests to publish or conceal, to preserve or to sup- Digitized by Googl ; PREFACE. v press, at their discretion, such facts as came to their knowledge. All, therefore, that could exalt their religion or gratify their national vanity was displayed in exaggerated terms while the reverses and humiliations which they suffered, and especially those which, like the Ten Plagues, brought disgrace upon their deities, were either passed over in silence, or so treated as to convey to future generations im- pressions entirely at variance with the truth. Thus, while it is perfectly certain that the events described by Moses did occur, and were known and felt throughout all the land of Egypt, no distinct traces of them are to be found upon the monuments of that country nor is it pos- ; sible to ascertain from such sources either the period when they took place, the name of the Pharaoh who suffered under the infliction, nor even the dynasty which then prevailed. The inspired account of this blank in Egyp- is it tian history brief ; is a history, not of Egypt, but of Israel ; and the point of view from which it is taken is very different from that which an independent historian would have assumed. It was intended chiefly for the Jews, as a memorial of great and solemn events with which they were already acquainted, “ et quorum pars magna fuerunt it touched therefore only Digitized by Google VI PREFACE. upon those prominent facts of the history which possessed a peculiar and national interest, and which were to be handed down from generation to generation of the Israelites, as arguments to quicken their devotion towards God, and to remind them of their obligations as his people. Yet even this cursory account is such as no one who was not intimately and personally acquainted with the history, institutions, and habits of the Egyptians, and also with the natural features, productions, and general cha- racteristics of their country, could possibly have written. It bears, in every line, the stamp of truth, told by an eyewitness it makes men- ; tion, as if accidentally, of numberless little cir- cumstances which prove to be in perfect har- mony with all that is known, from other sources, of the actual condition of the Egyptians and their country at that period, and which none but a writer thoroughly, and as it were uncon- sciously, familiar with the subject, could have introduced. Profane history also confirms the inspired account to a remarkable extent, though of course indirectly. In the earliest times foreigners were not allowed to penetrate into the interior of Egypt, or to become acquainted with its his- this tory ; but rule was, at a later period, relaxed. PREFACE. vii Sufficient opportunity was then afforded to observe the customs of the people, and to study their religion philosophy and the writings and ; of Herodotus, Plato, Diodorus, Strabo, and other witnesses, furnish many interesting parallels and illustrations to the narrative of Moses. As the history of a nation or an epoch may be collected from the coins and fragments discovered at various times, and in places far apart, so this portion of Egyptian history, pur- posely suppressed, and, as it were, buried by the priests, is confirmed in its chief facts and explained in many of its details by the frag- mentary records of ancient writers, and by the sculptures, paintings, and inscriptions, which are from time to time discovered and deciphered. The object of the following pages is to gather up these scattered fragments, and to show their general bearing upon the distinct line of facts recorded in the book of Exodus ; arranging them as a consistent, although sometimes con- jectural, background to the more prominent figures and events delineated and described by Moses. And this has been done in the convic- tion that the whole will answer the important end of confirming and elucidating the sacred narrative. Digitized by Google VI! 1 PREFACE. The author is indebted to the annotator on the Book of Exodus in the Speaker’s Commen- tary, and to other writers, for some quotations, which are acknowledged wherever they occur. Most of the woodcuts are from Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson’s “ Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians.” Digitized by Google CONTENTS. PACE The Plagues of Egypt—Their meaning and emphasis as signs, for the Egyptians,, for the Israelites—Moses as an historian —Moses in Egypt, in Horeb—The Burning Bush—Meaning of the name I am —The eternity of the Godhead— Opinions of the Egyptians and of the Greeks on this subject—Sun- worship I CHAPTER II. The Rod changed to a Serpent—The Leprous Hand—Meaning of these Signs—“ I will be with thy mouth”—Harpocrates, the God of Speech — Circumcision — First Appearance of Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh—The hardening of Pha- raoh’s Heart an act of Divine Justice . 20 CHAPTER III. Brick-making in Egypt — Description by Diodorus of forced Labour—Punishment with the Stick—Use of Stubble—“ A stretched-out Arm,” Meaning of this Symbol in Hierogly- phics — Seasons and Duration of the several Plagues — Calendar of Events—Serpent-worship—Magicians of Egypt 37 CHAPTER IV. The First Plague—The River of Egypt : its appearance in Moses' days : its Productions : its Annual Overflow : the Birthplace of the Gods : honoured as a Deity ; its Fish and Reptiles Digitized by Google — X CONTENTS. PACK sacred : excellence of its Water for drinking : turned into Blood — Meaning of the Sign — Destruction of the Male Children of the_lsraelites—Divine retribution—Moses drawn ” out of the Nile to be “a God to Pharaoh . 54 CHAPTER V. The Plague of Frogs—Purifications of the Egyptians prevented —The Frog an Emblem of Fecundity—Frog-headed Deities —Frogs reverenced — Greek Epigram — Parallel accounts Classical Writers from , . JO CHAPTER VI. The Plague of Lice —The Priests and Temples again defiled - The Dust of Egypt sacred : cast upon the Head—The Ma gicians defeated — The *' Finger of God ” — Shameful character of this Plague . 82 CHAPTER VII. The Plague of Flies — Sonnini’s account — Of what kind—Fly gods of the Ancients—Baal-zebub—Achoreus, the Memphian priest — Tammuz and the Chambers of Imagery — Similar Visitations recorded by Greek Historians . 90 CHAPTER VIII. The Abomination of the Egyptians—'The Ox a Symbol of their Chief Deities—One God sacrificed to another—Dagon—The Murrain—The Bull Apis : described by Herodotus, Diodorus, Strabo, and Plutarch—Other Sacred Animals— The Golden Calf in the Wilderness —The Bull of Siva—Appropriate Character of this Plague . mi CHAPTER IX. Increasing Severity of the Plagues—Ashes of the Furnace—Re - tributive Meaning of this Sign—Human Sacrifices—Gods of Healing—Physicians of Egypt—Variety and Number of the Sacred Animals—Judgment executed against all the Gods of Egypt .....

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